America the Beautiful

Late afternoon Tetons study. 6″x8″ oil on canvas.

I am really beginning to understand “For purple mountain majesties” as I study the Teton range here in Jackson, Wyoming. In the afternoon the angle of the sun starts to make the mountains more and more purple. Sometimes they even look almost black below the tree line. Though because of the distance between here and the mountains of course they are never black but deep greenish purple. (Try painting that color!) I wish I understood the science of this but I don’t. I’ll have to have my son explain it to me next time I talk to him.

It’s mid July and there isn’t much snow left on the mountain tops. I went hiking with a friend last week and we were high enough that the trail was impassable because of snow! Well, impossible for us, people that were more determined were hiking on up with their tents and ropes. A day hike is more my speed.

Below is a photo I took just as I was finishing this study. If you look at the color between the trees just above that little horse barn (which I left out of my painting) you can see that gorgeous purple color! And then if you follow the mountain range far over to the right, you can see that purple color has turned a very light violet. More alizarin and less blue. Beautiful!